25th January 2010

I felt knackered all day :-(

The stretching of the legs on the lunchtime walked helped a little, but I think I should take it easy this week...I have a 100k Audax on Sunday (Not to far) and I want to enjoy it...

So instead of going on the rollers/going out for a ride, I noticed yesterday that the rear wheel bearings had a little play in them so I thought I would have a look at them....(The peugeot has maintainable bearings)

And for your boredom I photographed the ordeal :-)

Start of with the wheel off the bike...

With a flat spanner holding the inner nut undo the outer nut....

Then unscrew the inner race...revealing one side of bearings....Ohh they look a little dry :-(
Remove the shaft...

Count out the bearings.....nine....and clean and inspect them.

Then take out the other side bearings..and clean and inspect them.

Clean and inspect both outer races...

Pack with grease (I use a lithium based grease - some people mix with teflon/silicon grease to help resist water washout)

Put the bearings back in, the grease holds them in place :-)

Put the shaft back through and re screw on the inner race and the lock nut...dont over-tighten...dont leave it to loose...It should be tight enough to have no play but loose enough so that there is no resistance to turn.

Because the rear bearings were a little dry, I went on and serviced the front wheel bearings as well :-)

And as I was tinkering I sorted out the front shifter (It's not a modern thing but a simple down-tube leaver)...it was a little stiff so I stripped it down and applied a little light oil on it :-) Now its well smooth :-)

The plan this week is to stay of the bike Mon/Tues and Thurs/Fri...I may go for a short ride on Wednesday to the cycle club meeting (Although if there's any sign of bad weather I'm not taking any bikes out! they are all to clean!), I am going to give the ChainGang a miss this Saturday and go for a short afternoon ride instead...Then Sunday is the Audax :-)